Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears,
More to the part finifter, from me drawn,
Well if thrown out, as fupernumerary
To my juft number found. O why did God,
Creator wife, that peopled highest Heaven
With Spirits mafculine, create at last
This novelty on earth, this fair defect

Of nature, and not fill the world at once
With Men as Angels without feminine,
Or find fome other way to generate

885

890

Mankind? this mischief had not then befall'n, 895
And more that fhall befall, innumerable
Disturbances on earth through female fnares,
And ftrait conjunction with this fex: for either
He never fhall find out fit mate, but fuch
As fome misfortune brings him, or mistake; 900
Or whom he wishes moft fhall feldom gain
Through her perverfenefs, but fhall fee her gain'd
By a far worse, or, if fhe love, withheld
By parents; or his happiest choice too late
Shall meet, already link'd and wedlock-bound
To a fell adverfary', his hate or shame : 906
Which infinite calamity fhall caufe
To human life, and houshold peace confound.

He added not, and from her turn'd; but Eve Not fo repuls'd, with tears that ceas'd not flowing, And treffes all diforder'd, at his feet

Fell humble, and embracing them, befought
His peace, and thus proceeded in her plaint.

911

Forfake me not thus, Adam: witnefs Heaven What love fincere, and reverence in my heart 915 I bear thee, and unweeting have offended, Unhappily deceiv'd; thy fuppliant

950

955

Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain
His full wrath, whose thou feel'st as yet leaft part,
And my difpleasure bear'ft fo ill. If prayers
Could alter high decrees, I to that place
Would speed before thee, and be louder heard,
That on my head all might be visited,
Thy frailty and infirmer fex forgiven,
To me committed and by me expos'd.
But rife, let us no more contend, nor blame
Each other, blam'd enough elsewhere, but strive
In offices of love, how we may lighten 960
Each other's burden, in our fhare of woe;
Since this day's death denounc'd, if ought I fee,
Will prove no fudden, but a flow-pac'd evil,
A long day's dying to augment our pain,
And to our feed (O hapless feed!) deriv'd. 965
To whom thus Eve, recovering heart, reply'd.
Adam, by fad experiment I know

970

How little weight my words with thee can find,
Found fo erroneous, thence by just event
Feund fo unfortunate; nevertheless,
Reftor'd by thee, vile as I am, to place
Of new acceptance, hopeful to regain
Thy love, the fole contentment of my heart
Living or dying, from thee I will not hide
What thoughts in my unquiet breast are risen, 975
Tending to fome relief of our extremes,
Or end, though sharp and fad, yet tolerable,
As in our evils, and of eafier choice.
If care of our descent perplex us most,
Which must be born to certain woe, devour'd
By Death at laft; and miferable it is
To be to others caufe of mifery,

981

Our own begotten, and of our loins to bring Into this curfed world a woful race,

That after wretched life must be at last
Food for fo foul a monster; in thy power
It lies, yet ere conception to prevent
The race unbleft, as be'ing yet unbegot.
Childlefs thou art, childless remain: fo Death
Shall be deceiv'd his glut, and with us two
Be forc'd to fatisfy his ravenous maw.

985

990

995

But if thou judge it hard and difficult,
Converfing, looking, loving, to abitain
From love's due rites, nuptial embraces fweet,
And with defire to languish without hope,
Before the prefent object languishing
With like defire, which would be misery
And torment lefs than none of what we dread;
Then both ourselves and feed at once to free
From what we fear from both, let us make short,
Let us feek Death, or, he not found, fupply 1001
With our own hands his office on ourselves:
Why stand we longer fhivering under fears,
That show no end but death, and have the power,
Of many ways to die the fhortelt choofing, 1005
Deftruction with destruction to deftroy?

She ended here, or vehement despair
Broke off the reft; fo much of death her thoughts
Had entertain'd, as dy'd her cheeks with pale.
But Adam with fuch counsel nothing fway'd 1010
To better hopes his more attentive mind
Lab'ring had rais'd, and thus to Eve reply'd.
Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure feems
To argue in thee fomething more fublime

The penalty pronounc'd, doubt not but God
Hath wifelier arm'd his vengeful ire than fo
To be foreftall'd; much more I feel left death

So fnatch'd will not exempt us from the pain 1025
We are by doom to pay; rather such acts
Of contumacy will provoke the Highest
To make death in us live: Then let us feek
Some fafer refolution, which methinks

1030

1035

1040

1045

I have in view, calling to mind with heed Part of our fentence, that thy feed fhall bruise The Serpent's head; pitcous amends, unless Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand foe Satan, who in the ferpent hath contriv'd Against us this deceit to crush his head Would be revenge indeed; which will be loft By death brought on ourselves, or childless days Refolv'd as thou propofeft; so our foe Shall 'fcape his punishment ordain'd, and we Inftead fhall double ours upon our heads. No more be mention'd then of violence Against ourselves, and wilful barrenness, That cuts us off from hope, and favors only Rancor and pride, impatience and defpite, Reluctance against God and his juft yoke Laid on our necks. Remember with what mild And gracious teniper he both heard and judg'd Without wrath or reviling; we expected Immediate diffolution, which we thought Was meant by death that day, when lo, to thee Pains only in child-bearing were foretold, 1051 And bringing forth, foon recompens'd with joy, Fruit of thy womb on me the curfe aflope Glanc'd on the ground; with labor I must earn My bread; what harm? Idlenefs had been worfe; My labor will fuftain me; and left cold 1056 Or heat should injure us, his timely care Hath unbefought provided, and his hands Cloth'd us unworthy, pitying while he judg'd; How much more, if we pray him, will his ear Be open, and his heart to pity' incline,

1061

And teach us further by what means to fhun
'T'h' inclement feafons, rain, ice, hail, and fnow?
Which now the sky with various face begins
To fhow us in this mountain, while the winds 1065
Blow moift and keen, fhattering the graceful lock
Of thofe fair spreading trees; which bids us feck
Some better shroud, fome better warmth to cherish.
Our limbs benumb'd, ere this diurnal star
Leave cold the night, how we his gather'd beams
Reflected, may with matter fere foment
Or by collifion of two bodies grind
The air attrite to fire, as late the clouds
Juftling or push'd with winds rude in their. fhock
Tine the flant lightning, whose thwart flame driv'n

down

Kindles the gummy bark of fir or pine,

1075

1075

80

He ended, and the Son gave fignal high To the bright minifter that watch'd; he blew His trumpet, heard in Oreb fince perhaps When God defcended, and perhaps once more 75 To found at general doom. Th' angelic blaft Fill'd all the regions: from their blifsful bowers Of amarantin fhade, fountain or spring, By the waters of life, where'er they fat In fellowships of joy, the fons of light Hafted, reforting to the fummons high, And took their feats; till from his throne fupremé Th' Almighty thus pronounc'd his fovran will. O Sons, like one of us Man is become To know both good and evil, fince his taste Of that defended fruit; but let him boast His knowledge of good loft, and evil got, Happier, had it fuffic'd him to have known Good by itfelf, and evil not at all.

85

95

He forrows now, repents, and prays contrite, 90
My motions in him; longer than they move,
His heart I know, how variable and vain
Self-left. Left therefore his now bolder hand
Reach alfo of the tree of life, and eat,
And live for ever, dream at least to live
For ever, to remove him I decree,
And fend him from the garden forth to till
The ground whence he was taker, fitter foil.
Michael, this my beheft have thou in charge,
Take to thee from among the Cherubim
Thy choice of flaming warriers, left the Fiend,
Or in behalf of Man, or to invade

100

105

110

Vacant poffeffion, fome new trouble raife:
Hafte thee, and from the Paradise of God
Without remorfe drive out the finful pair
From hallow'd ground th' unholy, and denounce
To them and to their progeny from thence
Perpetual banishment. Yet left they faint
At the fad fentence rigorously urg'd,
For I behold them foften'd and with tears
Bewailing their excefs, all terror hide.
If patiently thy bidding they obey,
Difmifs them not difconfolate; reveal
To Adam what shall come in future days,
As I fhall thee inlighten; intermix
My covenant in the Woman's feed renew'd;
So fend them forth, though forrowing, yet in

peace :

And on the eaft fide of the garden place, Where entrance up from Eden eafictt climbs, Cherubic watch, and of a sword the flante

115

120

Wide-waving, all approach far off to fright, And guard all paffage to the tree of life: Left Paradife a receptacle prove

To Spirits forl, and ail ny tries their prey, 124
With whofe thol'n fuit Man once more to delude.
He ceas'd; and th' archangelic Pow'r prep.r'd
For fwift deicent. with him the cohort bright
Of watchful Cherubim; four fa es cach
Had, like a double Janus, all their shape
Spangled with eyes, more numerous than those
Of Argus, and more wakeful than to doufe, 131
Charm'd with Arcadian pipe, the paft'ral reed
Of Hermes, or his piate rod. Men while
To refalute the world with facred light
Leucothea wak'd, and with fresh dews imbalm'd
The earth, when Adain and firit matron Eve 136
Had ended now their orifons, and found
Strength added from above, new hope to fpring
Out of defpair, joy, but with fear yet link'd;
Which thus to Eve his welcome words renew'd.
Eve, eafily may faith admit, that all
The good which we enjoy, from Heav'n defcends;
But that from us ought fhould afcend to Heaven
So prevalent as to concern the mind
Of God high-bleft, or to incline his will,
Hard to belief may feem; yet this will prayer
Or one fhort figh of human breath, upborne
Ev'n to the feat of God. For fince 1 fought
By pray'r th' offended Deity to' appease,
Kncel'd and before him humbled all my heart, 150
Methought I saw him placable and mild,
Bending his ear; perfuafion in me grew
That I was heard with favor; peace return'd
Home to my breaft, and to my memory
His promife, that thy feed fhall bruife our foe;
Which then not minded in difmay, yet now 156
Affures me that the bitterness of death

ΙΑΙ

145

195

200

Forerunners of his purpose, or to warn
Us haply too fecure of our discharge
From penalty, because from death releas'd
Some days; how long, and what till then our life,
Who knows, or more than this, that we are duft,
And thither must return and be no more?
Why clfe this double object in our fight
Of flight purfu'd in th' air, and o'er the ground,
One way the felf-fame hour? why in the caft
Darkness ere day's mid-courfe, and morning light
More orient in yon western cloud, that draws 205
O'er the blue firmament a radiant white,
And flow defcends, with fomething heav'nly
fraught?

He err'd not, for by this the heav'nly bands
Down from a sky of jafper lighted now
In Paradife, and on a hill made halt,
A glorious apparition, had not doubt
And carnal fear that day dimm'd Adam's eye.
Not that more glorious, when the Angels met
Jacob in Mahanaim, where he faw

210

214

The field pavilion'd with his guardians bright;
Nor that which on the flaming mount appear'd
In Dothan, cover'd with a camp of fire,
Against the Syrian king, who to furprife
One man, affafhin like, had levied war,
War unproclaim'd. The princely Hierarch 220
In their bright stand there left his Pow'rs to feife
Poffeffion of the garden; he alone,

224

230

To find where Aaam fhelter'd, took his way,
Not unperceiv'd of Adam, who to Eve,
While the great vifitant approach'd, thus fpake..
Eve, now expect great tidings, which perhaps
Of us will foon determin, or impofe
New laws to be obferv'd; for I defery
From yonder blazing cloud that veils the hill
One of the heav'nly hoft, and by his gait
None of the mcaneft, fome great Potentate
Or of the Thrones above, fuch majefty
Invefts him coming; yet not terrible
That I should fear, nor fociably mild,
As Raphael, that I should much confide,
But folemn and fublime, whom not to' offend,
With reverence I must meet, and thou retire.
He ended; and th' Arch-Angelfoon drew nigh,
Not in his shape celeftial, but as man
Clad to meet man; over his lucid arms
A military veft of purple flow'd,
Livelier than Meliban, or the grain
Of Sarra, worn by kings and heroes old
In time of truce; Iris had dipt the woof;

235

240

His ftarry helm unbuckled fhow'd him prime 245 In manhood where youth ended; by his fide

Adam, Heav'n's high beheft no preface needs: Sufficient that thy pray'rs are heard, and Death, Then due by fentence when thou didst tranfgrefs, Defeated of his feisure many days

260

Giv'n thee of grace, wherein thou may'st repent,
And one bad act with many deeds well done 256
Mayft cover: well may then thy Lord appeas'd
Redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious clame;
But longer in this Paradife to dwell
Permits not; to remove thee I am come,
And fend thee from the garden forth to till
The ground whence thou waft taken, fitter foil.
He added not, for Adam at the news
Heart-ftruck with chilling gripe of forrow flood,
That all his fenfes bound: Eve, who unfeen 265
Yet all had heard, with audible lament
Discover'd foon the place of her retire.

O unexpected ftroke, worse than of Death!
Muft I thus leave thee, Paradife? thus leave
Thee, native soil, thefe happy walks and shades,
Fit haunt of Gods? where I had hope to spend,
Quiet though fad, the respite of that day
That must be mortal to us both. O flowers,
That never will in other climate grow,
My early vifitation, and my last

275

At even, which I bred up with tender hand
From the first opening bud, and gave you names,
Who now shall rear you to the fun, or rank
Your tribes, and water from the ambrofial fount?
Thee laftly, nuptial bow'r, by me adorn'd
283
With what to fight or fmell was fweet, from the
How shall I part, and whither wander down
Into a lower world, to this obfcure

And wild? how shall we breathe in other air
Lefs pure, accuftom'd to immortal fruits?

285

290

Whom thus the Angel interrupted mild. Lament not, Evc, but patiently refign What juftly thou haft loft; nor fet thy heart, Thus over-fond, on that which is not thine. Thy going is not lonely; with thee goes Thy hufband; him to follow thou art bound; Where he abides, think there thy native foil. Adam by this from the cold fudden damp Recovering, and his scatter'd spi'rits return'd, To Michael thus his humble words addrefs'd. 295 Celestial, whether among the Thrones, nam'd

300

Of them the high'eft, for fuch of shape may feem
Prince above princes, gently haft thou told
Thy meffage, which might elfe in telling wound,
And in performing end us; what befides
Of forrow and dejection and despair
Our frailty can fuftain, thy tidings bring,
Departure from this happy place, our sweet
Recefs, and only confolation left
Familiar to our eyes, all places elfe
Inhofpitable' appear and defolate,

Nor knowing us nor known: and if by prayer
Inceffant I could hope to change the will
Of him who all things can, I would not cease
To weary him with my affiduous cries:

305

313